Literary Love Confetti

After looking for hours for ideas to go with our literary themed wedding I saw large confetti hearts somewhere online made from old books. So I took that idea and ran with it I bought two heart shaped paper punches; one about an inch and a half and the other 2.5 inches. Here is an example of what a paper punch would look like: http://www.save-on-crafts.com/paperpunch.html although I got mine at a 50% off sale at Michaels. You can cut out hearts by hand, but if you plan on making a large number of hearts buying a heart shaped punch will make it so much easier. And you can use it in the future for various projects. I made my hearts using a self help book my mom kept trying to push on me because she didn’t want it, some of a 300 page story I wrote as a teenager, and the majority of an Oscar Wilde play book. Since my fiancé had bought me Oscar Wilde’s (one of my favourite authors) entire works for my last birthday I didn’t need to hold onto the really old falling part book that cost me 10 cents at some book sale. Then I made black tea and eventually soaked all of the hearts in them for at least 24 hours and let them dry to give them a vintage look. The hearts from the Oscar Wilde book looked even older since it was a very old book.

How I tea died paper:

-Pour about a cup or so of boiling water into a 9x9 clear baking pan and let two bags of black tea seep. If you don’t already have black tea, and don’t even like it, just buy the cheap kind. You can also use coffee, which I did but it seemed messier.

-Put in the refrigerator to let it cool
-Put about two layers of hearts in the tea and let sit 24-73 hours and then spread a towel on your table and let them dry. You will have to do this process many times.
-Only a good project if you have time.
-You can also tea die other paper projects and projects you have made with yarn. I have not tried this with fabric, but I’m sure you can.

- These have been very loose directions. You don't have to use a 9x9 baking pan, it doesn't have to be clear, or glass as mine was. And you can tea dye it for a shorter or longer amount of time. But it does help to use older books.

I haven't even figured out everything I am going to do with these little hearts, but here are two ideas so far.

The hearts can be scattered amongst a centerpiece setup

The hearts can be used to decorate favor boxes or anything else.

 

Look for my favor box project in the next blog.